Further Details Emerge About Droid Injuring Man's Ear

Staff Member

Last week we reported here about a Texas man named, Aron Embry, who was injured when his Droid 2 smart-phone allegedly exploded in his ear. New reports indicate that there may be more to this story than previously indicated. According to an article at gearlog.com, a source within Motorola told PCMag that he believed the phone was probably dropped and that Mr. Embry may have cut himself by using the phone without realizing that the screen was damaged. The undisclosed employee was also quoted as saying, "The only things that could explode in a phone would have resulted in a phone that did not work, yet this phone worked. And there was no explosive damage to the device (things inside blown outward, etc)." Motorola has not released any official report and is continuing to investigate. Hmmm... does the mystery deepen, or is the truth finally coming to light?

Staff MemberRescue Squad

i bet the problem was the guy said "I dont need the extended warranty" I am real careful with my phone. He dropped it and he felt sick so instead of dealing with the mistake he made he thought he would just run a game.

Motorola ought to sue this guy for public slandering their product. I told my girlfriend about this and before I started to explain why this couldn't have logically happened (inward damage with outward wounding while maintaining full functionality) she was like, "I'm glad I didn't get the Droid 2."

Using that logic, if x number of people had read the article without reading any of the comments that make sense of it all they might eat it up and buy another phone, potentially costing Motorola, Google, Verizon, and the store they would have bought the device from optionally, hundreds of thousands of dollars if not more.

Suppose it's pointless though as the guy's probably only worth the clothes on his back and the lint in his pockets.

I still maintain that from a technical standpoint, it's perfectly plausible that the glass suddenly and catastrophically failed. Not an explosion per se, just a piece of glass suddenly shattering. It happens, and hardened glass is even more prone to just such a failure. The very process that hardens it also puts it under constant stress, all it would take is a tiny weak spot. I'm not saying this is definitely what happened, but with millions of glass screen covers produced, it's not entirely impossible that a few fail here and there.

The story just gets more wild all the time. The guy only claimed that he heard a popping sound, and his ear was cut. The media has insisted on calling it an explosion. I don't know if he's faking, or just trying to take advantage of the incident.

Either way, I think I'll wait for something more official than a report by a blog who's source is some guy who works for Motorola.